The Traitors (also known as The Traitors Australia outside of Australia) is an Australian reality television series broadcast on Network 10, based on the Dutch series De Verraders, which premiered on 16 October 2022.[1][2]
Following the premise of other versions of De Verraders, the show features a group of contestants participating in a social deduction game similar to Mafia or Werewolf, as they stay in a luxurious heritage manor. During their stay, a small group of contestants become the titular "Traitors," and must work together to eliminate the other contestants to win a grand prize, while the remaining contestants become "Faithful" and are tasked to discover and banish the Traitors by voting them out of the game to win a grand prize worth up to $250,000.
Announced in 2022, the Australian edition was one of the first to be announced and aired, following the original Dutch version in 2021, with Endemol Shine producing the series. Two seasons hosted by actor Rodger Corser aired in 2022 and 2023. The series was axed in 2024, though 10 teased that the series may return in the future.[3][4] In September 2025, 10 announced a third season, to air in 2026 with comedian and former Big Brother Australia host Gretel Killeen replacing Corser as host. This season will feature a full cast of reality television personalities.[5]
With the 2026 edition, production moved to New Zealand, making the series a sister show to the New Zealand version, both produced by South Pacific Pictures for Network 10 and Three. They are set to share the same location, props, and missions, with the main difference being the hosts and the cast.
Format
A group of contestants arrive at a mysterious luxurious mannor as "Faithful" contestants – hoping to share a prize fund worth up to A$250,000.[6] Among the group are the "Traitors" – a small group of contestants selected by the host on the first day, whose goal is to eliminate the Faithfuls and claim the prize for themselves.[7] Should the Faithful contestants eliminate all the Traitors, they will share the prize fund. If a Traitor makes it to the end, they steal the money.
Each night, the Traitors secretly meet in the "Traitors Tower" and decide upon one Faithful contestant to "murder" – and that person will leave the game immediately. The remaining Faithful contestants will not know who has been eliminated until the following day when they will not arrive for breakfast. The group then take part in a mission to win money for the prize fund (awarded in the form of silver bars). In some episodes, the group also participates in a Shield challenge to win individual player immunity from elimination. In season one, the shield awarded safety from both Murder and Banishment. In the second season, the shields only awarded immunity from murder.The second season introduced the Armoury, a hidden room in which, in some episodes, players from the winning team of the day's mission were rewarded with the chance for one player to be secretly awarded the shield of protection, which gives the player immunity from being murdered, but not the banishment vote.[8] An attempted murder on the shield holder will result in no player being eliminated.
At the end of each day, the group will participate in the Banishment Ceremony – where the players gather at the Round Table to discuss who they wish to vote out before individually voting for a player to banish. Players cast their votes privately before revealing their vote in turn to everyone. The person obtaining the most votes is banished from the game and must reveal their affiliation. In a tied vote, a run-off vote occurs between those tied with the highest vote tallies.
Occasionally, twists will impact the course of the game – most notably with Traitors being given opportunities to recruit new Traitors among remaining Faithful players.
End Game
After the final Banishment Ceremony, the remaining players (typically three or four) participate in the End Game. The players can choose to "Vote" or "Stop". A majority Stop vote would conclude the game, while a majority vote to "Vote" would result in another Banishment Vote. This voting process "Vote" or "Stop" continues until the players have voted to conclude the game or if two players remain. If the remaining players are all Faithful, they will share the prize.
In the event that the game ends with all Traitor players, they play the 'Traitors' Dilemma' - similar to the Prisoner's dilemma. Each player is given the option to "Share" or "Steal". If all voted to "Share", then everyone would equally share the pot. If at least one player voted to "Share" while others voted to "Steal", then each "Steal" voter would share the pot, while the "Share" voters get nothing. If all three voted to "Steal", then no one would win any money.
Production
The series and casting for the first season were first announced in February 2022, with the series set to be produced by Endemol Shine Australia.[9] By May, Rodger Corser was announced as the host,[10] with filming taking place in mid-2022 in the hertiage Robertson Hotel in Robertson in the Southern Highlands, and the season premiered on 16 October 2022.[11][1]
Although the series was not formally renewed when the first season aired, casting for a potential second season was opened in January 2023.[12][13] On 28 April 2023, the show was officially announced for renewal for a second season, which was teased to feature Celebrity contestatns among Civilian contestants.[14][15] The second season premiered on 13 August 2023. The series was axed in 2024 due to low viewership despite the series' cult following and the continued international success of the franchise (including in the broardcast of the Australian version overseas), though 10 teased that the series may return in the future.[16][17]
In August 2025, rumours surfaced that 10 were considering reviving the series for 2025, based on the continued international success of the The Traitors franchise. The new season would feature a cast of Reality TV personalities (much like the American version), and is set to be filmed in New Zealand, with South Pacific Pictures, the production team behind The Traitors NZ, producing the new season .[18][19][20] These rumours were later confirmed with 10 also announcing Gretel Killeen as host..[21] The location was also revleaed as Castle Claremont, Timaru, Canterbury in New Zealand, with the site acting as a Production Hub for the Australian and New Zealnd versions (much like the Ardross Castle in Scotland for the American & British versions), with the hopes that the site will also host other versions, particualrly for other countries in the Asia–Pacific region.[22]
1 2 After Finalist & Traitors Blake, Sam & Camille participated in the Traitor's Dilemma, and all elected to "Steal", the trio each walked away empty-handed. The prize fund earned was not awarded.
International broadcast
In the United States, the show is available to stream on Peacock, the broadcaster of the American version.[24]
In Canada, the show is available to stream on Crave.[25]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
